Gulbarga: Senior Congress leader, Allam Prabhu Patil claimed on Saturday that Union Railway Minister, Mallikjarjun Kharge, had done the ground work for establishing a new railway divisional headquarters at Gulbarga and was waiting for an “appropriate time” to make the announcement.

The MLC made his claim while laying the foundation stone for a new railway over-bridge and pit here. Kharge had repeatedly demanded establishment of a railway headquarters in Gulbarga for development of the region’s railway network before he became railway minister.

While the Sarin Committee had supported the idea in its report in 1984, a recent committee vetoed it saying that establishing railway divisions in Gulbarga and Mangalore did not seem viable in terms of finance and infrastructure.

Kharge had however assured that his ministry had not given up the idea nevertheless and the issue was still under the consideration of the government. What could prod things along is the move to establish a railway pit line at Gulbarga, which is scheduled to be completed in six months at an estimated cost of Rs 8 crore.

The establishment of the pit line, regarded as a “railway garage” could allow starting of new train services from Gulbarga as it can service or repair 24 railway coaches at a time.